Oh No, Not Another Highschool Fic!
Chapter Ten: Oh Sugar Honey Iced Tea
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other copywritten material used or referenced to in the making of this fanfiction.
A knock on her bedroom door made the pounding in her chest to increase in both speed and strength. The eldest Hyuga took in a deep breath and pulled the door to her bedroom open to welcome her sleeper sister. "H-hey…" The blonde was smiling brightly, her cheeks pink in an artificial blush and her lips glossy. Her eye liner curled at the edges like an Egyptian queen and gold eye shadow evenly coated her eyelids. Hinata gave her outfit a glance: Gold leggings, black stiletto boots and a black peplum top with a peak-a-boob hole in the middle of her chest where a gold star hung from a necklace. She gave the blonde a brief disturbed look before walking toward her bed and plopping down on it. "I-I thought it w-was just a r-regular birthday p-party…Where's S-sakura?"
Ino casually walked over to the closet of the bluenette and began shuffling through her clothes. "It is, but we have a reputation to uphold. Generals from all over the country will be there as well as other government officials. We have to dress according to the program we're in or else Ms. Senju will kill us." She gave Hinata a heated look that clearly said 'You better not embarrass me by dressing like a prude.' When Hinata felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach, Ino turned back to the closet and threw a red and white dress onto the bed. "It really sucks that you have to wear the same shoes still, you should get your game up and pass that test so you can change your color scheme like me! Now hurry up and throw on that dress so I can do your hair and make-up."
Hinata reluctantly stood and slipped off her bathrobe, tossing it on the bed next to the dress. "S-sakura u-usually does m-my hair, why i-isn't s-she here y-yet?" she picked up the dress gingerly between her fingers as if it would stain her pride. She slipped the silky fabric on and held her breath as she pulled it up over her breasts so that they would fit. She turned to look at herself in the hanging door mirror and frowned in despair. The dress was mostly white with one thick strip of red that ran horizontally around the dress. It had one long sleeve and her other arm and shoulder were completely bare. The dress clung tightly to her midsection, accenting her wide hips and full bust. The hem came about mid-thigh and she cringed. She was showing way too much leg for comfort. "I-isn't t-there anything else…?"
Ino looked over from the vanity table in the corner of the room and smiled easily. "Nope, that's the only thing appropriate enough for the occasion. Come sit." When Hinata sat in front of her vanity, Ino started curling her hair. "Sakura said she had something she needed to do and that she would just meet us at the party." Hinata nodded when the hot curlers were far enough away from her head. "There is going to be a lot of important people at his party, so try not to trip or anything like that. Even though Naruto isn't in the military, a lot of people know him and come to celebrate. Oh, also. Karin and Tayuya are going to be there too. In case you didn't know, they're his younger cousins."
The blunettes' eyes grew wide and she jerked her head to the side causing Ino to burn her ear a little. She hissed in pain but snapped her attention back to the blonde. "They're his cousins?"
"Yup! They're very possessive too. But don't worry, they won't do anything to embarrass him or Sasuke in front of all those important people which means they'll ignore you the entire night." The young woman smiled at Hinata through the mirror. "So I hear you've got a thing for Naruto…"
A blush spread across the Hyugas' face. "I-i—"
"It's cool. His birthday party is like the most perfect way to get in with him. All you have to do is smile and laugh at every single one of his stupid jokes. He'll adore you."
Hinata's eyes skirted down to look at the items on her vanity. "Y-you know a l-lot about him t-then?"
Ino smiled brightly. "Mhhm, our group joined his group when we entered the highschool. We know everything there is to know about Naruto and he about us. There's no secrets in our group."
Hinata nodded gently, as not to disturb Ino's work. "So…w-why did he f-fail?"
Ino stopped short. "W-well…That's something Naruto should tell you…"
The bluenette nodded and watched Ino continue on with her hair.
When Hinata and Ino entered the house of which Naruto lived, they were greeted by a stern looking man with red hair identical to the twins and a brightly smiling woman whose blonde dye was fading at the roots. They welcomed them and ushered them into a grandly decorated room where people of all ages were gathered. In one section of the room, classical music played and a retired army general was dancing with his young wife. Many other military men and woman stood and chatted in the section and Ino stopped her as they reached them. The blond girl motioned for Hinata to salute to the men and woman, and, when she did, they saluted back. Ino smiled and they continued walking toward the second section where pop music played.
Hinata let out a breath of relief when she saw a few familiar faces. At a table filled with cupcakes and cookies sat Moegi and Konohamaru. The two seemed to be in a very deep conversation involving the cupcakes they were holding in their hands. She smiled and turned her attention to Shikamaru who seemed to be more alert than usual. He stood next to a woman who wore an Air Force uniform, her back ridged and a warm smile across her lips. Blonde hair peaked out from under her cap and curled around the back of her ear. Next to her stood a man in a Marines uniform who seemed to be laughing at the two of them.
Ino left her side and jumped onto the back of who she assumed was Kiba judging by his shout of outrage. Ino pointed over her shoulder at Hinata and when Kiba turned she waved shyly. He waved back and pushed Ino off of him before returning to his conversation with the stoic Shino. Ino huffed and walked off deeper into the party, the crowd swallowing her and leaving Hinata to fend for herself. She walked over to a table that held a few bowls of punch and poured herself a glass.
Her nerves were going crazy, she was glad she had remembered to take her iron pill before they left. She looked down at her feet as she sipped on her juice and smiled softly. At least she had gotten used to wearing the shoes to the point where she didn't have to concentrate on walking anymore. As she looked up, her eyes caught Sakuras' from the other side of the room. Hinata raised her hand to wave but then Sakura did something she didn't expect. The medic in training averted her eyes and walked away. Before Hinata could for a coherent thought, someone tapped her on her shoulder. As she turned, her eyes widened a smile spread across her face. "Tenten?!"
"Oh my god, Hinata! I thought it was you! What are you doing here?!" The girls wrapped each other in hugs and laughed happily. "Oh don't cry, you're gonna ruin your pretty make-up!"
Hinata nodded and pulled away a bit. "What are you doing here?" She placed her half empty cup on the table and folded her hands to her chest as she briefly studied her best friend.
The brunette smiled and blushed. "Well, me and Neji are kinda serious now. He invited me to come with him to his home town while he went to his friend's birthday party. Apparently his parents went on vacation without telling him so we ended up having to get a hotel room for the weekend—don't give me that look, I'm still a virgin—and instead of making me sit in the room by myself he asked me to join him!" She grabbed Hinatas hands and took a very obvious look at her outfit. "But enough about me, what the hell happened to you?! Since when can you walk in heals? Are your legs actually shaved and OH MY GOD, why is your dress so short?!"
Hinata's blush deepened with every question and she shuffled in place. "W-well…I made s-some f-friends…"
As soon as the words left her lips, Ino shimmied her way through the crowd just so she could wrap her arms around Hinata's waist and place her chin in the crook of her neck. Tenten's eyebrows rose to new heights and Hinata gave her a nervous smile. "Hinata, Naruto is in the other room entertaining a couple of generals, if you wanna talk to him you're gonna have to wait till after—oh, hello! I don't think I've seen you before, I'm Ino Yamanaka!" She raised one of her arms and held her hand out to shake with Tenten who gave her a weird look.
"Err…I'm Tenten. I'm Hinata's bestfriend…"
Ino smiled. "Oh really?! That's awesome! So why are you here?"
Tenten frowned at the blondes' choice of words and crossed her arms over her chest. "I came with my boyfriend. He's around here somewhere…"
"Hey guys! Guess who I found trying to sneak out the back again!"
The three girls turned to find Kiba dragging a man with dark brown hair through the crowd. The man's eyes were a familiar grey and a deep frown was on his face. "I don't understand how you always know when I'm about to leave…"
Tenten's eyes lit up and she hurried over to the man, her arms snaking out to wrap around his free one. "Hinata, this is my boyfriend Neji! Neji, this is my bestest best friend Hinata."
Hinata looked at Neji, offering a small smile but his frown deepened when he looked at her. Ino's eye brows rose and Kiba let out a breath of wonder. "Dude, I told you Hinata looked familiar. They look alike! I've never seen anyone with the same gray eyes as you guys!" Kiba elbowed Neji in the side. "And I thought you were an only child."
Neji shot Kiba a look and growled. "I am." Turning back to Hinata, he bowed. "It is nice to finally meet the person my girlfriend holds in such high regards. I hope you can I can become friends."
Hinata nodded with a smile and tried to extract herself from Ino's grasp. It wasn't really working all that well so she continued to stand there feeling seven types of awkward with another girls arms wrapped around her.
Kiba placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, Hinata just came to our school a month ago. She's in…um…theatre class with us. She's on the same team as Ino and I so now our team kicks major ass."
Ino scoffed and ran a hand through her ponytail. "As if we didn't already before."
Tenten grinned. "Yeah, Hinata always was a pretty good actress. All the movies she watches, she better be."
The team of sleepers smiled at Tenten sadly and Neji patted her hand in affection.
"Oh look, here comes Naruto." Ino said as she detangled herself from Hinata. The Hyuga blushed and fiddled with her dress, trying to hide behind Kiba in the process. "Hinata's over here!" She called to Naruto over the heads of the other party guests causing Hinata to shoot her a glare. Naruto smiled and laughed at her antics and hurried over to the group.
Hinata watched as he made polite conversation with the people he passed and with Neji after he reached the group. He had an air of peace surrounding him that she hadn't noticed before and it made her heart beat faster in her chest. His suit was fitted perfectly making his broad shoulders more pronounced and making him look even manlier than he did before. A blush crawled up her face as she watched him and when his eyes turned to hers she thought her heard had stopped. He faced her with a bright smile.
"You're drooling…" Tenten whispered in her ear.
"S-shut up."
Naruto gently nudged Kiba out of the way so that he could have a little space to speak with her. "Hey, I'm glad you could make it."
Hinata nodded her head for a few seconds longer than she should've and smiled. "U-um uh, i-I'm h-happy to b-be here. H-happy Birthday."
"Thanks." He nodded to the others in the group before taking her hand in his. "Now I think I owe you a story." He pulled her through and out of the crowd, down a few hallways and into a large sitting room. The lights were off and a fire was going in the fireplace making it warm and cozy in the circular room. In the middle of the room sat a loveseat that faced the fireplace adjacent to the entrance. Around the room, potted plants hung or stood, their shadows casted against the walls and floors. Naruto went and sat down, motioning for her to follow.
When she was comfortably seated beside him, he crossed his legs and began. "I guess I should start the story off from the beginning…In middle school, the Academy has a curriculum where they teach you fundamentals like sparing, survival skills and regular academics. Unlike normal high schools, we are given classes that…alter our way of thinking. We don't have classes that teach critical thinking, instead we take classes that forces patriotism into us. We are told that we are the best and that it is our duty to protect our country no matter what. We are taught to believe that nothing bad will happen to us as long as we believe in our country and in our peers."
He sighed but continued on. "I wanted to be the best marine that ever came out of the Academy, even better than my parents were. They are still, to this day, the best agents that ever went on the field to fight but I wanted to show everyone that I was better. High school comes around and I'm one of the best students there. I will all of my spars every time, Kakashi was my homeroom teacher—I was the best. Then we find out that over a hundred marine soldiers were killed in a bombing overseas and my life crumbled beneath me. My mother and father, the best of the best, were killed that day. I was so angry and hurt. Everything the school told us was a lie. I didn't want to be a part of it anymore so I skipped. I missed four weeks of school before Tsunade took it upon herself to come "visit" me. You probably already know what happened but I had to go back. By that time, I had changed my way of life and become pacifist. I never spared, and if I was forced to then I took every hit that was dealt without raising my hand back to them. It was hard, but I did it. My grades suffered and the teachers grew disappointed in me but my friends supported my decision even if they didn't agree with it themselves. Unlike me, they still had families and they couldn't leave their families in debt. But at least they were there when I needed them."
Naruto smiled at her and placed a hand on her head. "I don't think you are suited for the life they have to lead. Kiba and Ino knew what they were getting into from the beginning but you didn't. It shouldn't be held against you. Being a sleeper is so much more than just going undercover and obtaining information, Hinata. Sometimes you'll have to kill to protect information. You may have to sleep with someone whose lips won't be loosened any other way. You might be kidnapped by another country and forced to revel government secrets. You have been signed up for one of the most dangerous and unpredictable jobs there is. That…I really don't like that. I wish I could do something to help you."
Hinata looked down at her hands, her thoughts running a mile a minute. How could her father allow this to happen to her? Why was she chosen in the first place? IT wasn't fair and she didn't want to go through with it. She looked back up at Naruto with a small frown. "I-if I did w-well at t-this s-school…I-i would be f-forced to k-k-kill?"
Naruto nodded. "Many sleepers have faced 'Kill or be Killed' in order to protect their country. They work secretly so no one but your team would know that you died or that you killed someone."
"No o-one would k-know?"
Naruto shook his head. They both jumped when a potted plant by the entrance was knocked over. They turned to find Tenten there, tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. Hinata's brain shut down for a second seeing her there.
Naruto stood up quickly and walked toward the brunette. "How much did you hear?"
Tentens' lips trembled and her hands shook. "A-all of i-it…"
"Shit."
A/N: Oh look, a new chapter….Wow…I even surprised myself with how long this one is. Anyway, this is the end of the first Saga. I feel like I made Naruto too serious in this chapter but don't worry, he's gonna be back to normal soon enough. Review and I might come back with another one on Christmas? If you hated something tell me so I can be sure not to make the same mistake again. If you loved it tell me so I can do something like it again! Also, I got a B in my wester civ. Class which I was completely sure I had failed so I'm completely happy with my life right now ^_^
